First draft of a Memorial Day Weekend 2006 illustration. Still has a way to go, but the main elements are in place. I'll post the second version of this late Saturday, followed by the finished memorial cartoon late Sunday night.

I had originally planned a solitary illustration for Fairfax County Police Detective Vicky O. Armel, who was slain on May 8 by a gunman outside the Sully, Virginia Police Station, and who was laid to to rest the day before Mother's Day. Her funeral took place at the same church which she had started attending only two years prior, following her conversion to Christianity at the age of 38. The day before her funeral, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in nearby Washington, D.C. held their annual candlelight vigil during Police Week 2006, 'Respecting, Honoring, and Remembering' 466 new names added to the memorial. Many in town to attend Mrs. Armel's funeral also attended this ceremony as well. My original idea was to combine Detective Armel's memorial portrait with a scene of the NLEOM-perhaps something incorporating the candlelight vigil.

Fairfax County Master Police Officer Michael E. Garbarino, who was shot five times in this same incident as he sat in his patrol car outside the Station, succumbed to his wounds nine days later on May 17. I decided the highway flag tribute, which took place over the funeral procession route by members of the Gainesville Volunteer Fire Department, would make for a better theme for a combined portraits of these two brave and selfless officers.